In The Word
Read: Isaiah 22:15-23:18
15 This is what the Lord God of armies says:
“Come, go to this steward,
To Shebna who is in charge of the royal household,
16 ‘What right do you have here,
And whom do you have here,
That you have cut out a tomb for yourself here,
You who cut out a tomb on the height,
You who carve a resting place for yourself in the rock?
17 Behold, the Lord is about to hurl you violently, you strong man.
And He is about to grasp you firmly
18 And wrap you up tightly like a ball,
To be driven into a vast country;
There you will die,
And there your splendid chariots will be,
You shame of your master’s house!’
19 I will depose you from your office,
And I will pull you down from your position.
20 Then it will come about on that day,
That I will summon My servant Eliakim the son of Hilkiah,
21 And I will clothe him with your tunic
And tie your sash securely around him.
I will hand your authority over to him,
And he will become a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah.
22 Then I will put the key of the house of David on his shoulder;
When he opens, no one will shut,
When he shuts, no one will open.
23 I will drive him like a peg in a firm place,
And he will become a throne of glory to his father’s house.
24 So they will hang on him all the glory of his father’s house, the offspring and the descendants, all the least of vessels, from bowls to all the jars. 25 On that day,” declares the Lord of armies, “the peg driven into a firm place will give way; it will even break off and fall, and the load that is hanging on it will be cut off, for the Lord has spoken.”
The Fall of Tyre
23 The pronouncement concerning Tyre:
Wail, you ships of Tarshish,
For Tyre is destroyed, without house or harbor;
It is reported to them from the land of Cyprus.
2 Be silent, you inhabitants of the coastland,
You merchants of Sidon;
Your messengers crossed the sea
3 And were on many waters.
The grain of the Nile, the harvest of the River was her revenue;
And she was the market of nations.
4 Be ashamed, Sidon,
For the sea speaks, the stronghold of the sea, saying,
“I have neither been in labor nor given birth,
I have neither brought up young men nor raised virgins.”
5 When the report reaches Egypt,
They will be in anguish over the report of Tyre.
6 Pass over to Tarshish;
Wail, you inhabitants of the coastland.
7 Is this your jubilant city,
Whose origin is from antiquity,
Whose feet used to bring her to colonize distant places?
8 Who has planned this against Tyre, the bestower of crowns,
Whose merchants were princes, whose traders were the honored of the earth?
9 The Lord of armies has planned it, to defile the pride of all beauty,
To despise all the honored of the earth.
10 Overflow your land like the Nile, you daughter of Tarshish,
There is no more restraint.
11 He has stretched His hand out over the sea,
He has made the kingdoms tremble;
The Lord has given a command concerning Canaan to demolish its strongholds.
12 He has said, “You shall not be jubilant anymore, you crushed virgin daughter of Sidon.
Arise, pass over to Cyprus; even there you will find no rest.”
13 Behold, the land of the Chaldeans—this is the people that did not exist; Assyria allocated it for desert creatures—they erected their siege towers, they stripped its palaces, they made it a ruin.
14 Wail, you ships of Tarshish,
For your stronghold is destroyed.
15 Now on that day Tyre will be forgotten for seventy years like the days of one king. At the end of seventy years it will happen to Tyre as in the song of the prostitute:
16 Take your harp, wander around the city,
You forgotten prostitute;
Pluck the strings skillfully, sing many songs,
That you may be remembered.
17 It will come about at the end of seventy years that the Lord will visit Tyre. Then she will go back to her prostitute’s wages and commit prostitution with all the kingdoms on the face of the earth. 18 Her profit and her prostitute’s wages will be sacred to the Lord; it will not be stored up or hoarded, but her profit will become sufficient food and magnificent attire for those who dwell in the presence of the Lord.
New American Standard Bible (NASB) Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation
Walking In The Word
Shebna, the steward in charge of the royal household, was calling attention to himself. There is nothing wrong with fancy vehicles (chariots) and fancy clothes, but be careful that they do not become your focus. Pride can creep in. Shebna was about to be removed and replaced with one who the Lord calls “My servant.” The Lord will give His servant the proud man’s authority. His servant will be a father to the royal house, not just an office holder, but one who invests in the house and cares for the house. He will be a foreshadow of Christ, a faithful servant, given the key so that what he opens no one will shut and what he shuts no one will open. Strongholds will be destroyed, and kingdoms will tremble and be made a ruin by the mighty hand of God.
God is opposed to the proud, but He gives grace to the humble. How about you? Does the Lord describe you as His servant, or would he describe you as a Shebna. God is looking for those that He can call “His servant.” He will empower those that He can trust with His resources, those that will not be lazy and just bury His resources, and those that will not use His resources for themselves. How about the time, talents, and resources you have been entrusted with? Are you using them for Him and His kingdom? Let us be good stewards of all He has given us.